Surgical staging for epithelial ovarian tumors of low malignant potential.

From January 1975 to December 1991, 34 patients with a diagnosis of epithelial ovarian tumors of low malignant potential (LMP) were admitted to the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan. Eighteen of them (group 1) underwent complete staging laparotomy and retroperitoneal para-aortic and pelvic lymphadenectomy, as for ovarian cancer. In the remaining 16 cases (group 2), the surgical treatment ranged from unilateral oophorectomy to incomplete staging procedure. In group 1, nine patients (50%) were found to have retroperitoneal nodal involvement. In group 2, all patients had stage I disease. Patients were followed up for 20-222 months (mean 108, median 86). There were two recurrences in group 2 (after 5 years) and none in group 1 (NS). Currently all patients are alive and disease free. Nine of 18 group 1 patients were upstaged to stage III on the basis of lymph node involvement only. However, at least in this retrospective series, lymph node metastases did not affect prognosis or survival.

Long-term follow-up of in situ carcinoma of the breast.

Eighty cases of duct carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast have been investigated by a cohort-retrospective study. These consisted of 8.5 per 1,000 of 9,446 breast biopsies originally diagnosed as benign, between 1964 and 1976, with a mean follow-up of 17.5 years. There were forty-one cases (51%) of DCIS of clinging type (CC); 30 cases (37.%) of CC associated with other types of DCIS; nine cases of DCIS other than CC two of which were DCIS of comedo-type. Invasive duct carcinoma (IDC) subsequently developed in 11 patients (14%), whereas DCIS recurred in 5 (6%). The recurrence was ipsilateral in 12 of these 16 patients. IDC appeared more frequently, with high statistical significance, when the lesion present in the original biopsy showed pleomorphic (P) nuclei (ie, poorly differentiated cyto-nuclear morphology). The Standardized Morbidity Ratio (SMR) was 8.0 (95% CI; 2.9-17.5) with the general population as reference. IDC that developed following a lesion displaying P nuclei also showed a statistically significantly more aggressive behavior. It is suggested that when cases of DCIS are followed-up for a considerable length of time, a two-wave pattern of aggressiveness becomes apparent. IDC that develops after a poorly differentiated DCIS leads to death more precociously than that appearing after other types of DCIS, especially those showing more bland nuclear cytology.

Antigen unmasking on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections.

Enzymatic and non-enzymatic treatments for antigen unmasking on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, dewaxed sections were optimized and compared by the use of a panel of antibodies of diagnostic relevance (anti-cytokeratins, vimentin, S-100, T- and B-cell receptors, Ki-67/MIB 1, muscle actin). Non-enzymatic unmasking was obtained by boiling the slides in a microwave oven in 0.01 M salt solution (pH 6) or in 6 M urea. Trypsin or pronase digestion was used for comparison and found to be necessary for some of the reagents. The investigation was then extended to 256 antibodies; the epitopic amino acid sequence was known for 48 of them. We found that enzymatic and non-enzymatic antigen unmasking are not dependent on the epitope sequence, but some antigens benefit selectively from one treatment but not from the other. Denaturation of proteins is the likely mechanism which leads to immunodetection on microwave oven-boiled slides; this suggestion is supported by the use of denaturating solutions and by the observation that endogenous enzymes were inactivated and a few antigens were no longer immunodetectable after boiling. Non-enzymatic methods for antigen unmasking are a powerful new tool for broadening the use of antibodies for immunostaining formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections and should be used in parallel with the traditional enzymatic methods.

Granulocytic sarcoma with myxoid stroma. Report of a case.

A granulocytic sarcoma with myxoid features simulating a chondrosarcoma was detected in the left arm of a 59 years old man. It is suggested that extramedullary hematopoietic neoplasms such as granulocytic sarcoma may display, similarly to malignant lymphomas, non-specific sarcoma-like features that obscure the usual diagnostic characteristics.